


Invitations

by archipelago41



Category: Cable (Comics), Deadpool (Comics)
Genre: Crack, Family, Humor, Slice of Life, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archipelago41/pseuds/archipelago41
Summary: Deadpool, King of the Island That Used To Be Staten, and Cable, his consort, send wedding invitations. In the shape of origami swords.Or...Wade and Nate have a series of wedding-related conversations. Inviting Summerses to weddings is complicated.
Relationships: Nathan Summers/Wade Wilson
Comments: 23
Kudos: 31





	1. Wedding Planning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In Which Kid Cable Tries to Divorce Deadpool](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26597743) by [archipelago41](https://archiveofourown.org/users/archipelago41/pseuds/archipelago41). 



> The technical sequel to the one where Bable tries to divorce Wade. This is absolutely just an excuse to have people react to a Nate and Wade remarriage.

Wade's monstrous subjects were divided on what title to call Nathan. There were countless suggestions from the simple variants of "Consort" to puns on metal. 

"Just Cable will do," Nathan found himself saying several times, to all manner of persons. He didn't expect them to hold much on formality. Wade was in charge, after all. The Royal Guard usually was kind enough to pretend there was some semblance of order, but it usually did not survive an encounter with Deadpool. 

"Queen Priscilla the Stoic," Wade suggested. "He pulls off a really good stoic and heroic scowl. A classic royal portraiture 'disapproval to your house unto the 3rd degree' scowl."

Nathan scowled for effect. It made Wade smile under the mask. 

It took all of three days after their reunion for Nathan to see that Wade was abysmal at running a country, even if he was resigned to it. He lounged in the throne that was several times too large for him, Jeff in his lap. 

"Wade," asked Nathan in horror. "How long have you been in charge?"

"A couple of months? In our compressed time, of course. Publishing time probably is a couple of years. At least a few weeks on the scripting. " 

Half of that didn't make sense, but with Wade's brain the way it was, time may be a touchy subject. Nathan's brain adapted to time travel, but if someone thought about it hard enough without a flow chart and several layers of thinking at once? They'd likely be in trouble. 

”And you haven't figured out a system for delegating petty complaints that isn't an open council? Or at least keep track of potential zoning issues?" The former was grandiose and infrequently scheduled, and the latter was trying to prevent any flame monsters from living near important flammable structures.

"My roundish council gets it all done," Wade defended. "Mostly. If there's anything kingly I need to do, they tell me."

"I'm sitting in on your next council meeting." He closed his eyes. The worst part, Nathan thought, was that Wade really was trying his best. This was nothing and everything like running an island in the Pacific, but these people looked up to Wade (to a degree) and risk their lives for him (to a greater degree) as he would in turn (without reservation). 

"You're not pulling the workaholic routine again, Nate! I won't have it. Not in my kingdom. I have the final say." A moment of silence. "Also, I don't schedule them. They just happen? Night Wolf has his turn at guard, and Elsa is walking around being everyone's hot nightmare, and if anything's wrong, they'd hear about it. My chamberlain got murdered. And I don't know where to get a new one. It's not like they have a royal servant store."

Wade might not even have a kingdom if some vital logistics didn't get worked out. Most people--and most monsters--didn't want major trouble. They just wanted to live. Nathan nodded, waiting for the rest of Wade's thought.

"You're not bringing any scrolls or work into our royal bedchamber! Do I have to emphasize with multiple exclamation points! "

"That seems unlikely to hold," Nathan said, his hands in his pockets. There were many nights where Nathan would take a quick meditation break and proceed to work the next four hours, no matter what the work was. "But I will try."

"We're not turning NuStaten into New Providence. Also, ideas for names? We can't do a vote because not all monsters speak the same language. Huh. Can you fix that? Download English into everyone's head?"

"Providence fell. I would not want a repeat," Nathan tried not to think about grand failures, but Providence was one. It was easy--too easy to start making decisions for people. It was far harder to stop. The fewer that Nathan made now, the easier it would be to remind himself that he was a guest. "And Staten Island has unique challenges-- the _least_ of which is what to call it. You're a monarchy, not a model nation-state."

Nathan could expound on the differences. International politics were all the same, in the end. At least monster politics had variety. "And, possibly. Maybe it would be easier to ask a magician."

"Speaking of, I want a proper royal wedding!" Wade exclaimed, discarding Nathan's answer to his off-hand comment. "We--you, definitely you-- can learn citizens' names and foreign dignitaries over seating arrangements."

It wasn't a bad idea. Well, maybe Nathan would be content to be a _permanent_ guest. Safe houses weren't really home. 

"I can't argue with that." The planning itself should not be too terrible, and it wasn't like they had a big ceremony the first time. He couldn't find it within himself to resist, not when Wade was the one bringing it up. 

"Say, how many seats should we put at the Summerses table, and when are we going to the moon to hand them the invites?"


	2. Hope

Nathan's return to Krakoa caused several situations. 

One was the matter of resurrection protocols. 

("I don't require the use of them. I know how I die," Nathan had said, while everyone else blanched. The question on everyone's mind was if Nathan was from before or _after_ the cocky teenaged version of himself managed to kill him. He smirked. He wasn't telling, and he kept his mental defenses up. )

Another was his family. Hope was more than happy to welcome Nathan back, for all his faults. She was also extraordinarily unhappy to learn that he'd been staying with Wade. 

Still, she had not broken from their hug.

“Why _him_?” she whined, in a way that she would never dare to to anyone else, but Nathan was her father and his image of her couldn't be tarnished. "Krakoa could grow you a home. You could fix up one of your safe houses. You could be here."

"I trust Wade," Nathan said, with finality. He always did. No one else understood, though he always attempted to give an answer if asked. Besides, Wade had Nathan's favorite coffee mug. "And we are not here to ask about moving."

Though, the island was a haven for monsters much in the same manner Krakoa was for mutants. Wade might have been offering residency to mutants with more visible physical mutation. The definition of monster was flexible. Nathan suspected he would not get many takers.

"You brought _Deadpool_ here? Dad! We have kids on the island!"

"Wade is exceptionally good with children. Give him credit for that." Wade's morals could be flexible, but not about children. Hope was not given the luxury to see that, and the worst part, perhaps, was that she didn't see any need for Nathan to make up for it. Nathan was raised as half a weapon and half a destined leader, and he had done the same to her. It wasn't the childhood any father wished for his daughter, and unlike him, Hope didn't have a clan group. Just Nathan. 

Hope extracted herself from Nathan's grasp to glare at him. "I'll believe it when I see it." She took a breath. "So what are you here for? Not the end of the world, since you haven't stormed the Council."

"He never dropped you," Nathan remarked, wistfully. "And you were less fussy when he changed your diaper than when I did."

You didn't need to be a telepath to read the shock on her face. With those senses, the air was tangibly agitated. He felt Hope brush against his mental defenses.

⟦What?⟧ came tinged with {inquisitive/disbelief/surprise/unsure/accusative}

⟦I'll show you,⟧ he answered. Nathan brought the moment to the forefront, and he'd always had more clarity of recall than he knew what to do with. It was simple enough to draw her in and make the setting: Alaska, where all Summers were born.

* * *

\- Wade, leaning over a tiny bundle in Nathan's arms, one gloved hand hesitant to touch her head: "So this is it? Him? Her? Oh, a her, probably--you know colorcoding them usually works but you never know. She's tiny. Well, time to kidnap a baby! It's like a Summers rite of passage."

"Wade, take the incubator. I've got her." 

\- Wade, taking watch over Hope so that Nathan could meditate for half an hour. Nathan could not risk more. He could hear the soft burble of a baby, and a repetitive sound: Wade soothing her. 

"Hey, I added stuff to the list," Wade said. "She needs, like, clothes. And rubber bands if she's going to do that "grow into a shirt" stuff."

\- "Nate! I'm going for supplies! Diapers and shit. Huh, for shit. I'll get cloth if they have any, you hippie, but we're in Alaska. I'm sure there's only one shitty choice."

\- Nathan, sheltering Hope against his chest. The Sentinel after them. Wade, taunting it, dressed in the remains of a mutant-eater, taking it down. 

\- The mournful look on Wade's face as Cable told him he was leaving. "We're a really cool team, Nate. We're the best team. I thought we could have another team-up title. Cable & Deadpool, vol 2: the futuring. Or better yet: Deadpool & Cable. Deadpool & Cable: 2099? We could even start out with more molecular jumbling soft vore."

It really was best to disregard the words out of Wade's mouth and pay more attention to the cadence.

"I can't stay. It's not safe for her here." Nathan didn't let Wade hold her; they had to go, and Nathan couldn't give himself more reasons to stay, even for a moment longer.

Wade kicked the ground. "I would have done this for free, you know. You sucker."

"I know."

* * *

Hope stood there, and for a single moment, she might have understood what Nathan saw when he looked at Wade: a protector, fiercely loyal--one who would do anything if needed. Hope didn't like it, and Nathan didn't have to skim her thoughts to see that. 

"Will you stand with me?" This would be the best time to ask. Nathan never needed many people, but Hope was one of them. One of the others would be standing on the other side of their officiant. "At the wedding."

"Wedding?" she asked, blithely. "Whose?"

"Mine." Nathan looked at her, grinning. She was clever enough to get it.

Her expression quickly distorted. "No. No! Dad, please tell me you're joking."

He smirked, even as Hope hit him on the metal arm. Nathan softly added, "You're the first one I've asked."

Hope softened, but Nathan held no delusions that she would get along with Wade any time soon.


	3. Family Dinner (Summerses & Logan)

Nathan had brought dessert. 

It was, Nathan noted, the core family unit: Scott, Jean, young Nathan, and Rachel on one side; Alex, Gabe, and Logan on the other. He suspected the eighth seat didn't get much use. 

"Nice of you to invite us to family dinner," Wade said, glossing over the tenseness in the air. "Do I not get a chair or is his name Nate?" 

Nathan felt the corner of his lips tug upwards. While he would not be opposed... "Wade, is this how you really want to begin a family dinner?" 

A silence. Wade was clearly relishing it. Nathan could feel the leer and the award Wade definitely wanted to give himself for not saying anything. Nathan wondered if they should have had a much chillier evening with much fewer of the Summers clan instead; Hope's vocal disapproval might be better than Vulcan's blatant confusion. 

On the other hand, Hope would be liable to attack Wade and rise to the bait more than a table mediated by Jean. Nathan knew Hope got a lot from him. 

It took eight seconds before Rachel said, "So. I see my favorite brother's back" which immediately got the intended reaction. Young Nathan pulled up all his teenage developing muscle and shot her a dirty look. 

Alex got up for a chair and an extra plate, and Nathan had to admit he was his favorite uncle. 

Then, Wade tossed out origami swords onto the table, neatly landing in front of everyone's plates. He _knew_ sudden movement was a bad idea around people who were almost as armed as Nathan and Wade were on any given day, but he did it anyway. Wade had folded invitations for ten minutes before making it someone else's problem. Then, Nathan had fastidiously used telekinesis to finish the rest while Wade penned the names on the outside. He insisted on giving everyone their own invitations because "honestly, no one needs to be a +1 here".

Nathan wasn't expecting that, but it was a way to break the news and give Scott a pained expression as he carefully unfolded his invitation. Nathan suspected that Jean was helping submerge a few impulses.

It's remarkably subdued compared to what he was expecting. 

"Oh, congratulations!" Gabriel said, unaware of the particular history Wade and the X-Men had. "Krakoa always loves a wedding." 

When Scott removed his hand from his face, he said, in his most official tone. "If you're planning on this being on Krakoa, you're going to need permission from the Council." 

"Mother," and Nathan was not above this, and Jean let out a small chuckle. This was why he'd made sure the dessert was _her_ favorite, after all. "Will you bring it up at the next session? We'd like to have the ceremony here. The reception, of course, will be on the island and open to all his subjects." 

Nathan supposed he should have expected to field the conversations again about what he saw in Wade. Everyone brought up his looks. He was scarred to a degree that was unthinkable in this particular time and place, but Nathan saw nothing wrong with wearing the marks of survival. Sometimes, he still couldn't believe that _Wade_ was the one people recoiled from, out of the pair of them.

There wasn't anything wrong with Wade. He was humanity stripped down to a microcosm: chaos and impulse and selfishness and underneath _that_ , a kernel of greatness--the capacity to do what must be done because no one else could or would. Every objection aired about Wade over the years hung in the air, and Jean broke them all with a small, "I suppose I can." 

21st century beauty standards were remarkably restrictive and often baffling. It wasn't quite grotesque when someone had the means to achieve the coveted perfect hair, untouched skin like a trophy pelt, and teeth whiter and straighter than some of the infrastructure Nathan grew up with. Out of those, Wade only had the teeth, and even then, they were his natural shade of off-white. Nathan had asked him to refrain from macabre stacks of re-grown primary teeth at the dinner table, so he saw them often.

Like now, when Wade grinned wide. "Oh, and Wolvie, you're not allowed to sit with the Summerses at the wedding." 

Logan frowned in displeasure, whether from the nickname, being excluded as a Summers, or from being thought of one in the first place. "What?" 

"We've done the big wedding thing," elaborated Wade and well, technically they have. Not as the two marrying parties. "And the eloping thing. So we're doing the two sides thing now, and I want equal numbers. I get Logan and all the mercs, even Domino if I bribe her well enough, and Nate has all his X-Force kids. So, I'm just making it clear that you're sitting on my side of the aisle."

Nathan nodded. He had a wide range of contacts, and he could easily fill in the number.

"Wade," Logan said. It wasn't a growl, even though he did have a tendency to growl. 

"We're basically family! I've got your healing factor in my DNA, though maybe that isn't the best analogy … Nate and I literally share DNA--oh God, Nate, are you my brother now? Do we have to call the wedding off? Is quasi-incest legal in the future? Do we have to go to some weird Askani retreat to get married?"

"Wade, shut up. I'll sit on your dumb side," Logan said, radiating displeasure at the tangent. Still, he didn't unsheathe his claws or do anything more than snort.

"Oh, and do you know where Sabretooth's gone to ground? We can make it a Weapon X family reunion."


	4. Scott

While Rachel was content with a quick telepathic confirmation that she would be welcome on Nate's side, and if he was having a bridal party, Hope had right of first refusal on being his Maid of Honor, but Rachel would be his very next choice. She patted Nathan's (flesh) shoulder and sent quiet encouragement when everyone at the table could see he and Scott were going to have a private conversation.

"Deadpool," Scott said, as soon as they were out of Logan's earshot. He was not looking anywhere near Nathan's direction. _"Again?"_

"It isn't the first time," Nathan confirmed, and it had taken a while for people to believe they were married the first time. Wade did make those kinds of jokes. "And I know your objections. That didn't stop us last time." 

"Well, last time we didn't get advance notice," and it was clear to Nathan that Scott was not sure he liked having it. "And yes. He's... Deadpool. " 

"He's set on a royal wedding, and it would be slightly scandalous to elope again." Nathan barely held back a smile.

"I liked not having him as a son-in-law." Scott sounded mournful. "I could safely ignore him most of the time and leave him to Logan." 

"And I liked not having a teenage version of myself around, but we can't always get what we want." Nathan shook his head. "You can still do that, and if you agree to give me away at the wedding, I can talk him out of putting on a dress." 

Scott shivered, and while Nathan had never had the joy of seeing Wade in Jean's old costume, perhaps it was actually time to rectify that. The sheer legendary status that incident garnered made him curious. Also, Wade had quite nice legs. "Wait. Give you away?" 

"It would make him happy." That was all the reason they needed, and it was a novelty that Nathan would have objected to if he was a woman, to avoid perpetuation of archaic ceremonial roles, but as it was--it could be nice. 

"Killing things and explosions make Deadpool happy!" 

"And I will make sure the only explosions are fireworks, if he still wants an evening wedding."


	5. Bable

Nate hadn't made it a habit to be anywhere alone with Deadpool, post-paperwork debacle. Before, there was the weird sadness that Nate was still not thinking about, and afterwards, well, Old Man Cable was back. There were zero reasons why Nate ever had to talk to Deadpool ever again. 

He really, really hoped that Deadpool crashing family dinner wasn't going to be a thing. The stories were fine, mostly, even if he had a habit of representing things in a way that the people who were there felt obligated to correct him. After the second time Dad almost choked on a bite of bread while Old Cable smiled indulgently, Nate and Rachel started sharing a running commentary. 

The only time Nate addressed Deadpool was to ask where the shark was. ("With Gwen," he'd said. "He missed her, and I'm not heartless." )

No one died. After Uncle Gabe and Uncle Alex cleared the table, Old Cable went off to talk to Dad. Deadpool literally pulled Nate aside. 

While Nate rebalanced himself, he scowled.

"Bable, I'm speaking as a man here, and that might be difficult for you, considering you can't grow stubble," Deadpool started. "But there comes a time when you have to make a choice that is kind of meaningful or emotional or something that your little cyborg brain needs a little bit more time to grow into--and is your brain partly metal? I wasn't paying attention at the time, and I happen to not want to crack open anyone's heads I like uncracked--"

Did. 

Did the man ever shut up? How in the world was Nate supposed to make any sense of this? " _What_ is it?" 

Deadpool looked at Nate, startled like he didn't expect Nate to be there, and how was he so expressive under the mask? If he was going to hug Nate again, please, well, no? 

"What's this about?" 

"Obviously, I'm marrying the best ex-wife anyone could ask for, but you kind of have a place in this wedding, too." 

What. At times like this, Nate wondered if this is what non-telepaths felt like _all the time_ , but it probably did not feel like this. This is only Deadpool, right? The world wouldn't survive if anyone else was like this. 

"Okay," he said, scratching the back of his neck. What kind of place? There's not ... that many roles in a wedding.

"Nathan, I know you're thinking you might be a little too young for this, but you do get some credit for ... existing? Not ganking Nate again, at least." Deadpool had to be serious. He never used Nate's name. He really was going to ask. Huh. Nate didn't think they were close, but: did Deadpool have anyone else? At all? If he was going to marry someone else, he'd ask Old Cable. It's kind of sad on one front, but Nate just thought back to when Deadpool was angry-sad when Old Cable was dead, and Nate maybe understood. 

He'd put on a suit and be awkward and bear it. He absolutely would not be making any toasts. 

"Will you be our ringbearer?"

Nate scowled. 

"And by 'will you', I mean 'You absolutely will be', beeteedubs. Your mom thinks it's a great idea."


	6. Stryfe

This was a step too far. 

"Wade, no." Nathan was happy to let Wade pick something and adjust his plans accordingly. It made wedding planning only slightly a headache. But this suggestion took it all. Painfully, he enunciated, "We. Are. Not. Inviting. Stryfe."

Nathan could make it happen, if they were aiming for a specific timeline. It would take more complicated calculations and logistics then he could be bothered with for a farce. Also. Nathan would like to avoid brawls at the wedding. He would say this, but Wade could read the clench of Nathan's jaw well enough. 

"That's kind of uncharitable. Didn't you two just uncomfortably eat hors d'oeuvres at my blowout wedding? I'm not saying we invite the guy, just leave an open chair at the Summers table for whenever he inevitably shows up. He's definitely a wedding crasher." Wade hummed, on the tip of a tangent. "Oooh, think we need name cards? We could write 'Nate 1.5' and 'Bathan' and maybe 'Grey Nate' or 'Robot Nate' on all the doppelgangers that you could have show up. Maybe it's better to have a ‘possible Nate’ table.

"Nate! How many plates do we need to set aside for possible Future Summers showing up to the wedding of the century?"

Nathan looked down at their reception seating charts. They would need revision.


End file.
